Is it worth it?

I'm starting to question all of the sanitization of the trails around here. Before it was here and there, but now it seems that more people are getting out to do trailwork the actual trailwork is becoming more of a "cleansing" rather than maintenance.

I understand that there is irrigation issues on most trails but do those irrigation issues require the "cleaning" of a trail?

A few rocks here and there are a good thing.....we are in the rocky mountains!

Just kind of venting after riding the roxbourough loop this last weekend and found that it rode more like a bike path in highlands ranch.

I will however give props to the COMBA for cleaning up the portion of CT from lenny's to the first campground. From what I noticed it wasn't a cleansing and was purely focused around irrigation issues. Thank you!

I will however give props to the COMBA for cleaning up the portion of CT from lenny's to the first campground. From what I noticed it wasn't a cleansing and was purely focused around irrigation issues. Thank you!

Thanks for the props on the COMBA work. We had a good group of people there on Satuday many of whom are serious mtb'ers and want the trail challenges left alone. We also had some very experienced and knowledgable trail stewards with us. I was wondering what people would think of the effort.

I like the minimalist approach to maintaining trails. Just figure out where the water goes and where it does the most damage and fix those spots with simple berms, trenches and adjusting the slope a bit. The berms can be annoying at first but since they are dirt they will pack down and become less intrusive as peope use the trail but still do their job. NEVER use those rubber and wood water bars!

I have to admit I can get carried away sometimes with sanitizing, kicking away some of those roller rocks that get under your rear wheel when your accelerating around a steep uphill turn!! I have to curb that compulsion. I do it when I hike which is not very often, weird habit.

I do hate it when they bring those trail machines in though, I think using those is what results in the widened and sanitized trails. That and putting down gravel and such. Just use some hand tools with a little effort and let it be.

In short, yes it is worth it. Both types of trail work seek the same goal - to mitigate erosion damage and keep the trails open/rideable. The 'cleansing' of the bottom of Roxborough was done with a trail machine by the Forest Service. They use the trail machines because it gets a lot of work done in a short amount of time. In time, this stretch of trail will evolve into a more 'natural' state and chances are it won't see any more FS work for several years. That's the nature of today's FS.

The work done with hand tools by volunteers seeks to work efficiently as well. We (TCS, now COMBA) try to fix as many areas as possible in one day with the volunteers that we have. Our work tends to be smaller in scope and visible change. Fresh dirt and some newly placed logs should be all you see.

After saying this, I will now point out that you will probably see a significant 'cleansing' of the Indian Creek trail from the 'T' intersection with the Roxbourough Loop east towards Roxborough SP. There are three specific stretches of trail that are badly eroded and trenched. We plan to backfill the trenches and to clear out a lot of the scrub oak along the trail. Our goal is to have mere mortals climb that stretch of trail. Some might say that it's 'cleansing' the trail but it has to be done or it will on get worse. Come out on June 3rd to help and to learn more about why we do what we do when maintaining the trails!

Just kind of venting after riding the roxbourough loop this last weekend and found that it rode more like a bike path in highlands ranch.

Are you talking about the trail work done at the very end of the Rox Loop if you were riding it counter-clockwise? I noticed that a few weeks ago. The part that irked me was that it was obviously made by machine only. The waterbars/drains are not going to work because the easiest path for h20 to follow is right down the trail and avoid the bars. IMHO, if they actually finished the tread by hand you could ensure that the h20 would run off the trail - not down it. As is, it doesn't accomplish what I assume is the original goal - prevent the erosion. It was very, very loose when I first rode it - it has been packed down by trail users since - however, this has made a nice trough right down the center. I don't remember this section being that technical to begin with - maybe I forgot. I didn't notice anything else on the Rox loop that was different than last year.